{"id":15205,"date":"2013-10-14T00:01:35","date_gmt":"2013-10-14T05:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=15205"},"modified":"2013-10-13T14:31:09","modified_gmt":"2013-10-13T19:31:09","slug":"esther-71-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2013\/10\/14\/esther-71-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Esther – Chapter 7:1-2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here in Esther: The Beauty of Courageous Submission<\/em><\/strong>, Mrs. Schacht asks us the following question…it is a biggie…ready?<\/p>\n

\n

“…is there anything that draws you away
\nfrom<\/span> your relationship with God,
\nor<\/span> distracts you from serving Him?”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

“Any<\/strong>thing<\/em>.”\u00a0 I don\u2019t like to admit it…to<\/span> you or even to myself, honestly.\u00a0 But \u2018yes\u2019 is my answer.\u00a0 How about you?\u00a0 Please take a few moments, right now, and consider this question.\u00a0 Perhaps ask God to reveal this to you.<\/p>\n

As we consider that we allow circumstances and situations to distract us from the One Who we should be seeking, I am sure your heart is saddened as mine is.\u00a0 Actually,<\/span>…no…not saddened!\u00a0 My heart is sorrowful.\u00a0 But, rather than just be depressed, my next thought should be\/is “What am I going to do about that!?!”\u00a0 Our heavenly Father doesn\u2019t want us to remain in our sorrowful state of mind…He wants us to mourn our sin (of course), repent and CHANGE.\u00a0 And then to live our lives to His honor and glory!<\/p>\n

As we each experience daily, there is much to distract us from focusing on our relationship with our God.\u00a0 From the moment our eyes open each morning, it can be a struggle to maintain the right perspective\u2014God first.\u00a0 But we CAN rise above this challenge and choose where our hearts and minds go.\u00a0 For me the impetus must be to seek Him above, before, and instead of anything else.<\/strong>\u00a0 He comes first before anything else.\u00a0 And so I need to purposefully, willfully seek Him<\/b>.<\/p>\n

We have such joy and privilege of having direct access to His throne of grace!\u00a0 At any time during the day (or night!) we can seek<\/strong> our heavenly Father\u2014and enjoy quiet time alone with Him.\u00a0 David wrote about his \u2018quiet time\u2019 in the following verse.\u00a0 Does God hear you expressing your heart to Him in the same way?<\/p>\n

In the morning You hear my voice, O Lord;
\nIn the morning I prepare [a prayer, a sacrifice] for You
\nAnd watch and<\/i> wait [for You to speak to my heart].
\nPsalm 5:3<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now, of course, that time you spend alone with Your Lord\u2014your quiet, devotional time\u2014is certainly not the only time to pray! Actually, I think, being intentional\u2026<\/span>seeking Him<\/strong><\/i><\/strong> first and foremost\u2026<\/span>our hearts are prepared\u00a0so that the rest of our day\u00a0is filled with continual little prayers and petitions directed to our God.<\/p>\n

Be encouraged!\u00a0 I am sure that you already seek Him<\/strong> throughout your day…. How often do we go along through our day accomplishing the normal even mundane tasks talking with our Father?\u00a0 Or driving (yet again) to school to pickup<\/span> your children; isn\u2019t that a great time to pray?\u00a0 Or waiting for them at dance\/soccer\/baseball practice or music lessons\/cub scout meeting\/Awana time\/_______ (you fill in the blank); yet another small amount of time that can be eked out of our day to pray and seek Him<\/strong><\/i><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Paul wrote a number of times in his letters to the Christian believers about the importance of praying.\u00a0 Listen to this encouragement:<\/p>\n

\"Eph6_18\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God\u2019s will for you in Christ Jesus.
\n1 Thessalonians 5:17-18<\/strong><\/p>\n

So we see by seeking God first and foremost, by being intentional to have a \u2018quiet time\u2019 early in our day, by seeking Him in our prayers and petitions, we will be better prepared to pray at all times<\/em>, and, keep alert and watch<\/em>, and, pray without ceasing<\/em>. \u00a0We will be continually seeking Him<\/strong> throughout each day\u2014thus carrying out His will!<\/p>\n

Here is a great example of seeking Him:<\/p>\n

Be earnest and<\/i> unwearied and<\/i> steadfast in your prayer [life],
\nBeing [both] alert and<\/i> intent in [your praying] with thanksgiving.
\nColossians 4:2<\/strong><\/p>\n

Those are some very intentional words used at the beginning of that verse, yes? Other versions use similar words such as devote, persevere, continue<\/em>\u2026.<\/p>\n

Do not fret or<\/i> have any anxiety about anything,
\nbut<\/span> in every circumstance and<\/i> in everything,
\nby<\/span> prayer and petition,
\nwith<\/span> thanksgiving,
\ncontinue<\/span> to make your wants known to God.
\nAnd God\u2019s peace [shall be yours, that peace]
\nwhich<\/span> transcends all understanding
\nshall<\/span> garrison and<\/i> mount guard
\nover<\/span> your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
\nPhilippians 4:6-7<\/strong><\/p>\n

“In every circumstance and in everything by prayer and petition…with thanksgiving” …that is how we make sure we are seeking Him<\/strong> in spite of the myriad of distractions in our lives.\u00a0 Keep seeking Him<\/b> and enjoy your quiet time with your Lord!\u00a0 As you seek Him<\/b>, He will be found\u2026<\/span>He promises!<\/p>\n

\n

\nThen you will call upon Me, and you will come and pray to Me,
\nand<\/span> I will hear and<\/i> heed you.
\nThen you will seek Me<\/strong><\/i><\/strong>, inquire for, and<\/i> require Me [as a vital necessity]
\nand<\/span> find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.<\/p>\n

Jeremiah 29:12,13<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

* * * * *<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s Pray<\/span>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lord, You know our desire to seek You!\u00a0\u00a0 We need Your help, Lord, in everything…even in turning from distraction and seeking You!\u00a0 We have Your promise that if we ask anything according to Your will, You hear us.\u00a0 And since we know that You hear us\u2014whatever we ask\u2014we know that we have what we asked of You (1 John 5:14, 15).\u00a0 Thank You, Lord!\u00a0 We know that You will answer our heart\u2019s cry as we are seeking You <\/b>with all our heart!<\/p>\n

Amen!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here in Esther: The Beauty of Courageous Submission, Mrs. Schacht asks us the following question…it is a biggie…ready? “…is there anything that draws you away from your relationship with God, or distracts you from serving Him?” “Anything.”\u00a0 I don\u2019t like to admit it…to you or even to myself, honestly.\u00a0 But \u2018yes\u2019 is my answer.\u00a0 How […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":15213,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[4094,235,1875,3475,321,349,2052,3512,425,1621,1673,4095,847,861,1290,4093,1141],"class_list":["post-15205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-womens","tag-1-thessalonians-517-18","tag-coleen-hayden","tag-colossians-42","tag-darlene-schacht","tag-distractions","tag-ephesians-618","tag-esther","tag-esther-the-beauty-of-courageous-submission","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-jeremiah-2912-13","tag-philippians-46-7","tag-pray-without-ceasing","tag-psalm-53","tag-quiet-time","tag-seeking-him","tag-the-book-of-esther","tag-womens-online-bible-study","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Eph6_18.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-3Xf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15205"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15217,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15205\/revisions\/15217"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}